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Ring of Fire
This is the third episode of Vale, season 6. Written by Rainy. Read, enjoy, & comment! '' '' '' ''Ring of Fire I felt like I was trying to swallow a rock, and it had gotten stuck in my throat. Couldn't cough it back up, couldn't stomach it. Couldn't see a way forward, couldn't change the past. Could only gasp for air, trying to fight the stabbing pain going through me. Seabreeze looked at me curiously. Concernedly, even. Those trusting sea-colored eyes--she had no idea she was staring into the face of a monster. What was the proper protocol when you had killed someone's brother and they didn't know it? Grayclaw. ''He was called Grayclaw. I felt like I was going to be sick. It was easier when he was nameless, a shadow with blood dripping from his jaws in the middle of the night, the kill so impersonal that it might have been just a really vivid nightmare. But now, now how could it be impersonal? He had a sister, a name, a home he would never return to. I pictured, instead of the terrifying silhouette I'd seen bent over Cloverflower's fading body, a young tom with eyes as beautiful as Seabreeze's, the same blue-gray pelt. ''What else could I have done? He killed Cloverflower. He was going to kill Owlkit and Vixenkit. Or maybe he was going to take them back to Viperstar. Maybe Viperstar wanted to take care of them, maybe they would've been better off in GreenClan. And you didn't have to kill him, you know. You could've sounded the alarm, knocked him away, gone for the kits. Instead, you went for his throat. The voice in my head was relentless. I knew it wasn't true. Viperstar would never let Owlkit and Vixenkit, the living proof of Odessa's betrayal, remain alive. Yet I couldn't stop the guilt. Maybe I shouldn't. If I woke up one day and didn't feel bad about killing someone, I wouldn't know who I was anymore. Of course, I wasn't doing so well on the identity thing anyway. I was clinging to the shreds of a cat who would never have killed anyone in the first place, but that old version of me was disappearing like uprooted strands of grass in a galestorm. Leaving behind this husk of a cat. "Breezeflight? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring you down. I'm sure Grayclaw's fine; he can take care of himself. We have other things to talk about," Seabreeze said hastily. I looked at her, glazed eyed. "The Prophecy of Rocks," Seabreeze said slowly, as if she was testing me. My attention finally swayed towards her a little. "So GreenClan has received its part," I said, and I knew she understood my unspoken meaning: we have ours too. "At first we thought it was just a normal prophecy. But obviously it's part of something much bigger. And even between us, we're missing a part." "The Tribe of Snow Mountain. But we've never even seen them--they live far away." "Not that far away. On the northern mountain." "Not in the vale." "Unless they live on the peak of the mountain, then yes, they're still technically in the vale," said Seabreeze reasonably. "But we need to put together SpringClan and GreenClan's parts of the Prophecy before we even think about the Tribe." She hesitated, her expression completely sincere. "I know you might be questioning my motives right now, and I get why you would. Our Clans don't exactly have the friendliest rapport between them. But Viperstar's attitude--he only cares about his sliver of the Prophecy, and refuses to understand its implications for the entire vale, or else just doesn't care about them--is deadly. I don't believe it's treason or breaking the warrior code if I'm doing it to save as many cats as I can. I trust you. I want you to know you can trust me, too." I knew she was talking about the Prophecy, about sharing our Clan's shares of it, but all I could think about was the hot, viscous feel of Grayclaw's life-blood filling my mouth, his greenish eyes flashing in the dark as he went down, sputtering and gasping for breath. I trust you. You can trust me. I could tell her. I really could. What was the worst that could happen? I would only lose her trust, her help, her part of the Prophecy, and possibly my own head depending on how close she and Grayclaw had been. But wasn't it better if she knew? Even I wasn't depraved enough to conceal the fact that their brother was dead from someone. Ordinarily. Except the fate of my Clan was at stake here. I took a deep breath and made the worst--and at the same time, only--choice I could make. "I do trust you," I said. I bound myself to a partnership wearing the face of someone else, pushing my darkest secrets to the back of my heart, where I knew they wouldn't rest, but would fester and eat like acid through me till there was nothing left. I hoped Seabreeze didn't hear the shudder in my voice. For SpringClan. "The three divided must again unite. Blood is not blood, blood is this fight. Beware the sleeper who slowly wakes, stain the sky scarlet as the earth quakes. Lifes to die and deaths to live. When two armies gather and three armies war, the last warrior the last word has to give." I recited the prophecy with the vision of a ring of fire twisting inside me, recalling the tunnels, the ground spiked with bones... How I wished I didn't live at the coming of the Prophecy of Rocks, what I would have given for lighter days... I wanted to take this "sleeper who slowly wakes" and club it upside the head till it promised to leave us all alone. Seabreeze frowned. "Has any of it come true yet? Do you know what any of it means?" "Yes," I said shakily. "A bit. The three divided: the three cats with the powers of legend are together again. Fire, Ryan, and Brightpaw are all in SpringClan. But the rest of it... Hang on a second--the next line, I think I might have just figured it out. The powers of legend used to be held by one cat: Ariel, Fire's sister. And they used to be passed down through that bloodline. But'' blood is not blood, blood is this fight''. This is no longer about Aldereyes's lineage--it's about the blood shed in this fight. It's no longer them, it's us. All of us." Growing rather pale, she said, "Which hopefully will not be much. Blood shed, I mean. Though the part about dying and death... and war, and the earth quaking--it doesn't sound promising. Especially not when put together with GreenClan's part of the Prophecy." She quoted: "Powers of legend, the time has come The beast uncoils, the blood does run The last warrior stands, will not take flight The shadows will brave, the darkest night Valley against era of wrath and ire, Darkness: monster within, beneath, beyond, To kill and to live, the ring of fire." She glanced at me. "Are you all right? You look like you've seen a ghost." "I've been having dreams--nightmares. About a ring of fire. And tunnels." "Tunnels." Realization dawned on Seabreeze. "The ones Viperstar used to hide the Clan. And his secret ones, where he hid the Life-Rock." "How do you know about that?" "There are rumors. So it's true, then?" I nodded. "We have the Life-Rock." "What was it like? In the tunnels." "Haven't you been down there?" "Not... not Viperstar's lair." Seabreeze looked hesitant, and I knew why. I had a strong suspicion that the reason we hadn't found GreenClan was because they had gone underground. I couldn't imagine it; I had hated living out on the plains behind High-Rock when the League had driven us out of our home, under nothing but open sky, but being underground seemed infinitely worse to me. Claustrophobia would drive me out of my mind. A pang struck me as I thought of Petalpaw and Poolpaw, being held hostage. They must be terrified. I remembered what Brightpaw had told me she'd overheard Seabreeze telling Gorsepaw. She'd asked him if he knew how his Clan was treating the two apprentices, if he'd seen what GreenClan had done to them. The fear I felt for the young she-cats left a metallic taste in my mouth. Dewstar was meeting with Viperstar tonight; they may have already made negotiations to save Poolpaw and Petalpaw. But if Dewstar failed, or if Viperstar cheated us, the two of them would almost surely die. Anger welled in me in spite of myself. Gorsepaw had betrayed us, and we hadn't done anything more to him than lock him up. I saw the haunted, wrecked look in Brightpaw's eyes whenever she passed by the den we were keeping him in, but he wasn't being hurt or tortured. We fed him and gave him a nest to sleep in. I had to find out how to get into the GreenClan camp. "What makes you think I'm the one who got the Life-Rock?" I asked. Blanching, Seabreeze said, "Don't you--know? Or at least suspect?" "Know what?" I asked suspiciously. But the she-cat looked guarded now. Her tone was apologetic as she said, "I can't tell you everything. I'm sorry: I'm still GreenClan at heart." I wanted to tell her it was a bit too late for loyalty now, but thought the better of it. If I were in this for the entire vale, not just SpringClan, I wouldn't have killed her brother. So getting her to tell me about GreenClan's camp, how guarded it was, how to get in, would probably be futile. I had to figure this out on my own. "Thank you for meeting with me, but I really should be going," I said. "I need to find out how the meeting between our leaders went." Nodding, she said, "And I shall be missed if I stay any longer. Thank you, Breezeflight. You are a far braver soul than I imagined." I stared at her, baffled. Than she imagined? We hardly knew each other; I still didn't even understand why she'd come up to me to arrange this meeting in the first place. "What--" "Good night. Can we meet again in a week's time?" I had a feeling we'd be meeting sooner, because I was already making plans to infiltrate the GreenClan camp and rescue Poolpaw and Petalpaw. But I gave her a short nod and said, "That sounds fine. Take care." "May StarClan light your path," she said, then turned and disappeared into the grass behind her. I stared after her, a little surprised by the farewell. It was hard to imagine Viperstar's Clan, who had killed Ryan's parents brutally and wreaked so much havoc in our lives, believing in StarClan. "May StarClan light your path," I whispered, long after she'd gone. Then I added, because I was too frustrated to pray such a gracious prayer, "Please. This is such a freaking mess. Do something." I began the trek back to the camp. As you can imagine, I was quite absorbed in my own thoughts, which were racing about at a mile a minute, so it took me a little while to realize there was a second set of pawsteps echoing my own. I paused and tilted my chin. "Brightpaw?" I asked, an exasperated tone creeping into my voice. But the head that poked out of the bracken wasn't ginger-white; it was dark and sleek. I gave a little laugh of surprise. "Ryan." He stepped out fully, wearing a wry smile as he raised his eyebrows at me. I felt a faint warmth rise to my cheeks, even though I hadn't technically done anything wrong. Well, besides meeting with a cat from a Clan that SpringClan was sort of at war with without telling anyone but my young apprentice, and then taking a moonlit walk while I plotted how best to stage an invasion of aforementioned enemy Clan while my leader was trying to forge a peace and negotiation. Other than that, I was innocent as newly budded flowers. "Breezeflight. You'd think by now I'd be used to you pulling stunts like this," he said as he fell into step with me. "After all, one of our first meetings involved me saving you from falling off High-Rock when you got too carried away with playing detective." I scrunched my nose at him. "That's not fair. I wasn't playing detective. I succeeded, didn't I? Anyway, it isn't a crime to take a walk on my own territory. What are you doing out here?" He feigned interest in a small rock. "Enjoying the scenery. Midnight has its lure." "Oh, of course." He was checking on me. I felt a warmth flare up inside me, and it had nothing to do with how close our pelts were to brushing and the way I could feel the heat of him next to me (okay, maybe a little). This was something different, something I had last felt when Daisyheart was alive. The feeling of being whole, even if it was just for this moment. "So how did the meeting go?" Ryan dropped his pretense, his expression growing serious. For a second, the way his face was tilted into the shadow brought out the lines of his cheekbones, the hollows under his eyes, and he looked impossibly weary. Then he turned back into the moonlight, and the shadows vanished. Pushing away the twinge of concern I felt, I rolled my eyes. "Out to admire rocks, huh? Next time I hear Brightpaw calling Flowerpaw a snitch, I'll remind her of this." He grinned. "Don't be too hard on her. I can be very persuasive." I arched one eyebrow. "That doesn't sound creepy at all. You should have stayed in the camp. Dewstar will be back soon, if he hasn't already, and he'll have real news. Important stuff. He had a meeting with Viperstar." "If you agreed to meet with Seabreeze, I already know it was important," Ryan said. He was right. Flattery aside, meeting with Seabreeze had told me a lot. "Just a few minutes for a brief summary. Then we have to get back and find out what happened with Dewstar and Viperstar," I told him. Ryan gave me a satisfied smile, sitting down beside me as his eyes swept keenly over my face. "What did I say? Persuasive." "Obnoxious and bothersome, is more like it." "Same thing." "The hostage mission was unsuccessful." I couldn't even find it in me to be surprised. We sat together outside the warriors' den: Minkears, Ren, Saori, Josh, Fire, Ryan and I. Saori sat between Ryan and Fire comfortably, but both Ren and Josh hung back--wary-eyed, appraising. For different reasons, of course. Josh had no history with us (except Fire, sort of). Ren had too much. Every time I looked at Ren, the empty look in his yellow eyes sent a shiver through me. I knew Ren was good. He hadn't put his fist through my head when I'd stupidly gone to the Red Arena and challenged him to a fight to the death after Daisyheart died. He protected me. He and Saori cared enough to come and try to help us. But even the best cats could break. His eyes reminded me too much of Duskwatcher's, and his voice reminded me too much of Daisyheart. I felt a raw hole of pain open within me. Every time I thought I was okay, something had to remind me I wasn't. Maybe I would have to come to terms with it: I could accept that Daisyheart was gone, but I would never stop feeling the echoes of her presence and love, snatched so soon from me. Minkears said, "Of course it was unsuccessful. Everything goes wrong in this freaking forsaken Clan." "Take it easy," Bluebird said in passing. She shot him a look of anger and then moved over to make room for him. "Sit." "Breezeflight, could you repeat the Prophecy again? What Seabreeze told you, I mean," Fire said. I complied, but quickly added, "I don't want to talk about the stupid Prophecy right now. I want to talk about ways of getting Poolpaw and Petalpaw back." "You mean infiltrating the tunnels." Fire's eyes were keen. She had come the farthest with me into the tunnels. Other than Ryan, who was always there to hold me when I woke up screaming from nightmares, she knew best how they terrified me. I could feel Ryan's eyes on me right now. I forced myself not to look at him. "They're just apprentices," I whispered. "Their parents are dead. They have each other and Owlkit and Vixenkit... That's it. If we leave them, if their own Clan forgets them--" "We haven't forgotten them. Dewstar just failed negotiations with Viperstar. We haven't abandoned the idea of using force," said Minkears firmly. "I have to talk to him," I said. Ryan frowned. "Breezeflight--" I shook my head. "I'm the only one who can. I know the tunnels best." "Hey, we went down there too," Bluebird reminded me gently. "Minkears and I saw the large chamber through which GreenClan must have actually escaped, remember?" "But I--" "You can come, Breezeflight. But you're not alone." Minkears's steady amber gaze met my own. I swallowed and nodded. "Ryan? Fire?" Brightpaw hovered at the edge of our group, looking uncharacteristically nervous. I doubted it was because she was talking to warriors--most of our group wasn't SpringClan anyway--and besides, it wouldn't be like Brightpaw, who was bold and outspoken rather than timid and tentative. She looked the latter two now, though. Fire and Ryan exchanged looks. "I'll be right back," Ryan muttered swiftly in my ear before following the two she-cats. Minkears blinked, looking after them. "Some kind of powers of legend meeting?" "I'm worried about Fire," said Josh unexpectedly. I glanced at him in surprise. "Fire?" He barely knew her; hadn't he been in love with her sister? "She looks... she looks like she's sickening. Like the life is being sucked out of her. She's reminding me too much of Ariel, right before she..." I felt a pit of unease grow in my stomach. I remembered how I'd thought Ryan looked so tired last night, the deep hollows under his eyes. Ren gave an uncharacteristically rude snort. "Hate to break it to you, but pretty faces that remind you of dead love are something you'll have to get used to." Saori gave her brother a look of shock, and he curled his lip at her. "Or you could flirt with every single one of them, like my sister here." "Ren," said Minkears coldly. "We've all lost cats. Cats who meant the world to us. We've watched them go mad, make terrible choices, destroy themselves, risk their lives, drench the ground in their blood, suffer, wither, and die. Get the freak over it." I flinched involuntarily. Part of me wanted to shout at Minkears. But this is Daisyheart we're talking about! How can anyone get over that? How can I ever forget seeing the exact second the light left her eyes? Another part of me wanted to punch the air in hurrah. Let go of it all. Throw the sands of time into the wind so that the past could never haunt me again. Ren seemed unable to speak after Minkears's words. He swallowed hard and looked away, but her amber eyes never left his face. Bluebird's eyes never left hers. Eyes. I had no idea why it hit me in that moment. I wasn't thinking about eyes. I wasn't thinking about the Prophecy, my nightmares, or even Poolpaw and Petalpaw. It was just one of those times things click, one of those strange instances in life that only occur because your friends have an incredible way of showing you the truth just by being themselves. An epiphany. But not the good kind. It hit me so hard that I felt it physically. A vision flashed before my eyes as things fell into place, the stuff of my nightmares: a ring of fire. "It's not," I whispered. "What?" asked Bluebird. I didn't want to say it out loud. A bitter, metallic taste filled my mouth. Saying it out loud would make it true, this hideous truth, and I didn't want the truth. But I had to face it. If there was one thing I'd learned about myself, it was that I couldn't stand by. Be it heroic or stupid, I had to say things, I had to utter terrible words and do terrible things. "It's not a ring of fire. It's an eye." Everyone was staring at me in bewilderment. "What ever do you mean? I thought you said--" "A band of gold, and the center is occupied by a pool of deep black. A thin gold iris, and a dilated black pupil. It's an eye. I know it. I heard its voice." "A talking eye?" Bluebird's voice cracked. "What does this mean?" "If I had to guess? There is a massive beast with eyes of fire haunting the vale, and we're going to have to reckon with it." - - - - She came to see him. He wasn't sure if she would. Every time he'd glimpsed her through the thick bramble screen of his prison, she had been decidedly not looking in his direction. Now that she was here, her scent filling the small, joyless cell, he wished she wasn't. One look into her eyes and he was flayed open, hurting so bad because he saw how she hurt. "I'm sorry," he whispered, almost reflexively. Disappointment colored her face. She had expected better of him. He should know better; sorry was nowhere near enough. Perhaps nothing ever could be. "You don't look well," she said softly. "Your Clan is treating me fairly. I can't complain." He hesitated. "I miss GreenClan." She gave him a short nod. Something awful hacked at his heart. "Brightpaw." Just her name. He heard the way his own voice softened around the syllables, like the name was a sacred thing. He had told her he loved her. If she hadn't believed him then, surely she had to see it now? Yet how could she? He had betrayed her. Brightpaw had the heart of a warrior. No warrior could forgive such a thing. "You don't look well either," he finally observed. It was true. She was pale and drawn, deep grooves carved under her eyes from sleeplessness, her pelt dull and lackluster. She wasn't beautiful. Bruises and scars lashed her slender white legs from countless mishaps while shadowhopping. Her ribs pressed against her skin when she moved. Her voice grated at times, as if it was so threadbare that it was about to break. She wasn't beautiful. Yet she was. Gorsepaw was frightened, frightened at the urgency of his own gaze as he watched her, making sure she didn't stumble or collapse, ready to leap and catch her if she did. She had pain and regret in her eyes when she looked at him, and he felt them like barbs, but they didn't quell the overwhelming urge to draw her thin frame close to him. He was in trouble. He loved her too much. But he was a cat of GreenClan. What had he done to himself? "Dewstar tried to make peace with Viperstar, but it didn't work. We wanted to trade you for Poolpaw and Petalpaw." Gorsepaw felt a twinge of fear. "He knows that my spy position was revealed." Bad choice. Her eyes flashed with anger. "Is that all you care about?" "No," he said honestly. "I care that I hurt this Clan. But I--Brightpaw?" Her eyes had gone unfocused. She sucked in a rattling breath, as if the oxygen had been drained from the cave. A deep red trickle of blood ran from her mouth and hit the dirt. She followed like a limp weight; only by lunging did Gorsepaw catch her head before it hit the ground too. "Brightpaw? Brightpaw!" Her eyelids had slammed shut, but the blood was still running from her mouth. He could feel her shaking. Gorsepaw tore out of his prison, nearly bulldozing Flowerpaw, who had been assigned to stand guard on him. "Help!" he screamed. "Will someone please help?" The End Category:Vale